Springers'
'96 title all about pitching, new regime
Written for 2002 State Tournament Program
By Tom Elliott
St. Cloud Times
It wasn’t articulated at
the time. No one truly made a big deal about it. But winning the 1996 state
Class B championship was a redemption of sorts for the
Cold Spring Springers.
That’s because, for the
first time since the 1955 state championship, amateur baseball Hall of Famer Bill Huls wasn’t a part of the Springers’ state
title.
With the ‘96 title, Dave
Hinkemeyer officially had an unspoken, although recognized, monkey off his
back.
"After the fact, I
think I heard about it," said Hinkemeyer, who views Huls as a mentor and a
great manager. "I know heard some things in 1994, after that first year
that I took over. We started out 8-8. I think people thought we were going to
go in the tank."
Instead of going in the
tank, Cold Spring won its fifth state championship. The Springers did it with
two key additions -- Steve Taylor and Dave Oehrlein.
Both were returning to amateur ball after playing professionally.
"The thing about that
year, in my mind, was our 1-2 punch of Todd Steil and
Dave Oehrlein," Hinkemeyer said. "They were
our top two pitchers and they were just incredible. It seemed like every game
they pitched was either a shutout or one-run game."
Cold Spring opened the
16-team, double-elimination tournament in Glencoe and Brownton
with a 3-2 win over Shakopee. Then, it beat New Ulm 10-0.
In the quarterfinals at Brownton, the Springers beat the Miesville
Mudhens 5-3. Matt Butala
and Josh Loesh hit homers. Steil,
a right-hander and
In the semifinals, the
Springers beat the Dundas Dukes 1-0. Oehrlein tossed a two-hitter to out-duel the Dukes’ Dana Kiecker, a former Boston Red Sox pitcher who, like Oehrlein, had starred at
The Springers only run came
on a home run by Matt Butala, who was having one of
his best years as a Springer, batting .410 with 14 home runs and 45 RBI.
In the championship, Cold
Spring beat the Dukes, who had come through the losers’ bracket, 6-4. A draftee
from St. Cloud O’Hara’s, Rob Mettenburg, got the
pitching win. Butala started on the mound. Butala and Taylor each had two hits.
Taylor, who played baseball
at
"What I remember is
that Matt’s father had passed away earlier in the season," Hinkemeyer
said. "Now you know how Matt is. He’s not sentimental at all. But he told
me after that home run, ‘I can’t explain it. But that home run was my dad. It
was my dad.’"
The club, which finished
36-6, was solid.
Rod Schafer was the
catcher. Butala played first.
The outfield featured Loesch, a St. Cloud State star, Billy Theis
and Troy Stein, who was starting for the University of Minnesota. Dwight Kotila also played in the outfield. Not playing was Ben
Griffin, who was out with a back injury.
But what was special about
the ’Springers was their pitching. Steil was 9-3 with
a 2.34 ERA.
"We had a lot of
depth," Hinkemeyer said.
And, they had finally won a
state title without Huls, a baseball icon in Cold Spring and
"My personality and
Bill Huls’ personalities are completely opposite," Hinkemeyer said.
"People took advantage of that at first. They did some things to me that
they never would have done to Bill.
"My approach is a lot
more relaxed. I don’t feel like I’m adding any pressure to the situation. For
our players, they bring on all the pressure they need themselves.
"Bill was a great
manager and the way he did things was right for him. Obviously, he had a lot of
success with it. If Bill was still manager, he’d be very successful and people
would play for him. I’ve done OK. But we have done well not because of me or
any individual. Anyone could manage the Springers and do very well."